Important formula

 Note: these are the key equations that are required for the course learning outcomes
to be covered, but you do not need to be able to remember / derive all of them. I
have highlighted the text associated with those that you don’t need to remember /
derive).

 All units are given as metric.

1) Fluid properties

1. Shear stress between layers of fluid:  (Nm-2):

du
  .
dy
where u = flow velocity (ms-1), y = flow depth (m),  = dynamic viscosity (Kg/(ms) –
Pascal Sec).

2. Kinematic viscosity:  (m2s-1):

/
where  = fluid density (kgm-3).

2) Continuity

1. Mass flow rate: ṁ (kgs-1):

1.A1.ū1 = 2.A2.ū2 = ṁ = constant

where ū = mean flow velocity (ms-1), A = control volume cross-sectional area (m2).

2. Volumetric flow rate: Q (m3s-1):

A1.ū1 = A2.ū2 = Q = constant

3) Conservation of energy and Bernoulli’s equation

1. Bernoulli’s equation:

2 2
p u p u
H1  1  1  z1  H 2  2  2  z 2  constant
ρ1g 2g ρ 2g 2g
 where H = total head (m), p = pressure (Nm-2), z = height above a datum (m).

2. Full energy equation:

 p1 u12   p2 u 22 
   z      z 
2   hf  w  q
 ρ g 2g 1 
ρ
 1   2 g 2g 
where hf = head loss in the system (m), w = energy taken from the system in doing
work (‘shaft work’) (m), q = energy added to the system (m).

3. Power added to / extracted from system: P (Nms-1 – watts):

P = gQH

and:
 p u2  1
ρgQH  ρgQ   z   pQ  ρu 2 Q  ρgQz
 ρg 2g  2

4) Velocity and discharge measurement

1) Discharge through small orifice in the side of a tank – Torricelli’s Theorem:

Q  A.u  A (2gH)

where A = orifice area (m2), H = head of water above the orifice (m).

2) Discharge calculation coefficients:

a) Discharge coefficient (Cd):

Q actual  C d Q theoretical  C d A (2gH)

where Qactual = true discharge emitting from the orifice (m3s-1), Qtheoretical =
theoretical discharge being emitted (m3s-1).

b) Velocity coefficient (Cv):

u actual  C v  u  C v (2gH)

where uactual = true velocity at exit (ms-1).

c) Coefficient of contraction (Cc):

Aactual = A.Cv
 where Aactual = true area at exit (m2).

d) True adjusted discharge (m3s-1):

Qactual  Cc C v A (2gH)

3) Discharge through a large orifice in the side of a tank:

2

3 3
Qideal  B 2g H 2 2  H1 2
3

where Qideal = theoretical discharge exiting from the tank (m3s-1), B = orifice width
normal to the flow (m), H1 = depth from free surface to top of orifice (m), H2 = depth
from free surface to bottom of orifice (m).

4) Velocity measurement using a pitot tube:

a) Dynamic pressure:

1 2 u2
ρu or as head 
2 2g
where u = flow velocity approaching the pitot tube (ms-1).

b) Stagnation pressure in pitot tube:

1 2 p u2
p  ρu or as head H  
2 ρg 2g
where H = total head (m) – the height between the flow entry to the pitot tube
and the water surface elevation in the vertical component of the tube.

c) Flow velocity measured using pitot tube: u (ms-1):

u  2gh
where h = height differential between static and dynamic pressure heads (m).

5) Velocity measurement using a pitot static tube and manometer:

2gh m ρ man  ρ 
u
ρ

where hm = height differential in manometric fluid (m),  = density of fluid being

measured (kgm-3), man = density of manometric fluid (kgm-3).
 6) Equation for ventuie meter and orifice meter when attached to manometer – you
only need to be able to recognise this equation, and don’t need to derive it

 A1    ρ man 
Q  2gh m   1 
  
m  1  
2
 ρ 

where Q = discharge of measured fluid (m3s-1), A1 = pipe cross-sectional area

upstream of contraction (m2), hm = height differential in the manometric fluid (m), 
= density of fluid being measured (kgm-3), man = density of manometric fluid (kgm-3),
m = (A1 / A2), where A2 = cross-sectional area of pipe at venturi / orifice contraction
(m2).

5) Momentum – Force Theory

 (N):
1) Momentum flow rate at a given cross-section in a control volume: M

(note that this is not the same as the mass flow rate which has a lower-case ‘m-dot’)

  ρ.A.u.u  ρ.A.u 2
M
 ρQu

where A = cross-sectional area of the control volume (m2), Q = discharge through the
control volume (m3s-1),  = density of fluid in the control volume (kgm -3), u = mean
flow velocity in the control volume (ms-1).

2) Total force exerted by the fluid on the control volume: F T (N):

 1  ρQu 2  u1 
 2 M
FT  M
Or
 2 M
FT  M  u 2  u1 
1m

where M  2 = momentum flow rate leaving the control volume (N), M 1 =

momentum flow rate entering the control volume (N), u 2 = mean flow velocity
leaving the control volume (ms-1), u1 = mean flow velocity entering the control
volume (ms-1), ṁ = mass flow rate (kgs-1).

3) Momentum equation (sometimes called the force – momentum equation)

 1  ρQu 2  u1   Fp1  Fp2   Fb  FR

 2 M
FT  M
where Fp1 = pressure force at the entrance to the control volume acting on the fluid
body (N), Fp2 = pressure force at the exit to the control volume acting on the fluid
body, Fb = body (weight) force acting on the fluid body (N), FR = resultant force
 (sometimes confusingly called the reaction force) of the control volume boundary
acting on the fluid body (N).

4) From the above we can see that the resultant (or sometimes called the reaction)
force of the control body boundary acting on the fluid (N) is:

FR = FT - Fp - Fb

where Fp = (Fp1 – Fp2).

1) Force exerted by the fluid body on the control volume boundary: R (N):

R = Fp + Fb - FT
Or

R = - FR
2) Resultant of the force on a bend exerted by the fluid body R (N):

R  Rx  Ry
2 2

where Rx = x-component of the force exerted on the bend (N), R y = y-component of

the force exerted on the bend (N). The modulus of these two components are taken
to solve the above equation.

3) Angle of action of resultant force on a bend exerted by the fluid body  (deg.):

Ry
  tan 1
Rx

4) General solution to resultant force of boundary acting on the fluid in a bend:

See Dr Turnbull Lecture Summary 8. Her derivation is exactly the same as mine, but
formulated in a different manner, simply employing:
 2 M
FT  M 1

Rather than I who have formulated it as:

FT  ρQu 2  u1 

Note that FR and R may get different names depending on the author / example
sheets. The key point is that:

FR = force exerted by the control volume boundary on the fluid.

R = Force exerted by the fluid on the control body boundary.

5) Pipe flow

1) Darcy’s Equation:

 L  u 
2
hf      
 D   2g 

where hf = head loss (m),  = Darcy-Weisbach coefficient, L = pipe length (m), D =

pipe diameter (m), u = mean flow velocity in pipe (ms-1).

2) Pressure loss in a pipe p (pascals):

p = -ghf
3) Reynolds Number (Re):

Dρ u Du
Re  or Re 
μ 

4) Flow resistance equations: You do not have to be able to derive these or

remember them off my heart but you do need to be familiar with each, be able
to recognise and name them and understand what conditions they apply to:

a) Hagen-Poiseuille equation:

64. 64
 
.u.D Re
b) Blasius equation:

λ  0.316/Re 0.25
c) Colebrook-White equation:

1  k 2.51 
 2log10   
λ  3.7D Re λ 

where k = pipe material absolute roughness (mm).

5) Pipe flow systems

1) Local headloss associated with bends, fittings, etc: hL (m):

u2
hL  kL .
2g
where KL = loss coefficient for a particular fitting / geometry.

2) Head loss associated with pipes in series:

The Darcy Equation can be reformulated to a useful form for analysis of pipe
flow in parallel and series:

 L   8.Q 
2
8.L.Q 2
hf      2 4  2 5
 D   g. .D  g. .D
a) For pipes in series with different roughness’s:

2 2 2
8.L .Q 8.L .Q 8.L .Q
h λ λ
1
λ 2 3

g.π .D g.π .D g.π .D

f 1 2 5 2 2 5 3 2 5

1 2 3

where 1,2,3…. = Darcy coefficient for each pipe in series in the direction of
flow, L1,2,3…. = length of pipe for each pipe in series (m), D = pipe diameter for
each pipe in series, Q = discharge in pipes (for pipe in series) (m 3s-1).

b) For the more general case where roughness is the same in all pipes – you
can obviously derive this from the above equation:

3) Syphon systems

I would expect you to be able to solve for velocity / discharge / pressure

changes through a siphon. You should also be able to determine whether
cavitation would take place.

4) Cavitation

Vacuum head at which cavitation will occur: HC (m):

H C  p atm  p vap /ρg

 where patm = absolute pressure of the atmosphere and p vap = absolute vapour
pressure.

6) Drag

Drag Force D (or FD) (N):

1
D  C Dρu o A
2
2
where CD = object drag coefficient,  = fluid density (kgm-3), uo = object
approach flow velocity (ms-1), A = frontal area of the object facing the flow
(m2).

7) Open channel flow

1) Channel geometry Parameters

A = flow cross-sectional area (m2)

P = Wetted Perimeter (m)

R = Hydraulic Radius (m)

2) Chezy flow resistance equation:

u  C R.s o
 where C = Chezy roughness coefficient.

3) Manning’s Equation:

2 1
R s 3 2
1 A 5/3 1/2
u= or Q s
n n P 2/3
4) The Froude Number:
u
Fr 
gy
where u = mean flow velocity (ms-1), y = flow depth (m).

5) The celerity of a water surface wave: C (ms-1):

c  gy
Speed of propagation of surface wave (not applicable to supercritical flow):

i) Subcritical flow upstream:

c  gy  u
ii) Subcritical flow downstream:
c  gy  u
iii) Critical flow upstream:

gy c  gy c  0
where yc = critical flow depth (m).

iv) Critical flow downstream

c  2 gy c
6) The Specific Energy Equation Es (m):
u2 q2
Es  y  Or Es  y 
2g 2gy 2

where q = the unit discharge (Q / A).

 The specific energy equation between two sections with change in bed
elevation:

q2 q2
E s1  y1  2
 y2  2
 Δz
2gy1 2gy 2
  The specific energy equation between two sections with a contraction:

E s1  y1 
Q/ y1  B1 2  E  y2 
Q/ y 2  B2 2
s2
2g 2g
7) The critical flow depth yc (m):

where uc = critical flow velocity (ms-1).

8) Critical flow velocity: uc (ms-1):

u c  gy c

9) Critical specific energy: Esc (m):

2
y c  E sc
3
10) Broad crested weir equation:

2 2g 3
Q BH 2
3 3
where B = weir width normal to the flow (m), H = head upstream of the weir
(m) – can often be approximated by h = the upstream flow depth (m) if we
assume no energy losses.

11) Equation for a hydraulic jump:


y 2  y1/2 1  8Fr1  1
2

where y2 = flow depth downstream of the jump (m), y1 = flow depth
upstream of the jump (m), Fr1 = Froude Number upstream of the jump
.
12) Head loss across as jump: Es (or hL) (m):

y 2  y1 3
E s 
4y1y 2
13) Power loss across a jump: P (watts):

P  ρgh LQ